1 month in...

Well, we are about 1 month in to second grade this year. It has been a bit of a rough start for Addie, but I think we are finally settling in. Poor kid just wasn't ready to let go of summer break, and she really misses her brothers when she's at school. We had one episode of coming home "sick" which was really nerves and missing home. But thanks to a cotton ball loaded up with hugs and kisses and kept secretly in her pocket whenever she needs a little squeeze, it has been fairly smooth sailing since then. :)

I can definitely see her catching bad guys. This was the first time I have asked her this question and received an answer that wasn't "Jedi", "superhero", or something of the like.

2 more years until Kinder for this little guy, but we let him get in on the 1st day action!

Addie's 7th Birthday

Here I go, back-blogging again. One of these days I'll be better! Our first-born celebrated 7 years on April 26th. We celebrated with all things Frozen! Addie invited some friends from school, and together with our family we had a great time. The weather even knew we were having a Frozen party and decided to be cold (62) and rainy! No problem for the desert kids, they played outside anyway. :)

Our Elsa, complete with magic snow-throwing powers!

We had a piñata and a pin-the nose-on-Olaf game, a few snacks, and cupcakes!

Love these two!

Addie's circle of friends watching her open gifts. All of the adults had the best time watching this part because the other kids were just as excited as Addie was to see what was in each present. The circle around her kept getting tighter and tighter as the kids were like, "OPEN MINE NEXT!", "NOW THIS ONE!" And the subsequent ooh-ing and aah-ing was priceless.

Amelia and Finn spent some quality time bonding in the pack-n-play during the party.

And of course, a big bike for our big girl.

And pretty sure at the end of all these milestone-y sort of posts I say something like, They can stop growing up now, but I freaking mean it! 7 years?! When did that happen? Love you Addie girl. To the moon and back.

Things Kids Say vol. 2

Addie seeing Finn's cord for the first time, "Ew. Can you cover that thing up please?"


Gage watching me nurse Finn, "Haha! Mom! He is eating your big bumps!"


Gage asking for a 4th mandating orange...
Me: "Another one? You're going to turn into an orange!"
Gage: "Uh, I don't think so. That would cost a lot of money."


Addie and I playing Yahtzee Jr., "Yeah Mom, I don't think we have played this since way back in 2013."


Gage: "Can I have just a little snack because I'm just a little boy?"


Addie: "Both of my brothers are just so cute! Now I don't know which one I should marry!"


Gage singing,"Yo-ho, yo-ho, what pirates like to eat!"


Gage comforting a crying Finn: "It's ok Finny, it's ok, Daddy's here."

6 weeks in the making...

6 weeks ago...

Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle

Tonight...

She has been babying that tooth along since it first came loose 6 weeks ago. She would try and let me pull it out and then raise her hand in the air (our "secret" signal) for when it hurt and she wanted me to stop. Tonight, it was wiggling by a thread so I talked her into letting me try before bed. Right as her hand popped up, I said, "I got it!" And much bouncing off the walls, happy giggling, and general euphoria ensued...

Happy milestone, Boog. We love you.

First Grader!

First day of 1st grade! Excuse the weird brightness in the tops of the pics, it was cloudy out...

We only had a few jitters in the morning, but once we got to school it was smooth-sailing. I prayed she wouldn't cry because I just didn't think I could handle it two years in a row! She had a great night's sleep (thanks to her awesome teacher handing out "magic" confetti on Meet the Teacher night for the kids to put under their pillows so they would sleep all night before school!) and a yummy egg sandwich breakfast. She stays all day this year, well, until 2:40, and eats lunch at school now. So I am a little nervous about the changes but I know she will do just fine. :)

 

Anytime we talk about Addie going to school, Gage pipes up and says, "And me too! I go to school too!" Nope. Sorry, kid. I'm keeping you awhile longer!

 

Getting ready to head inside! Got her first school lunch all packed and ready to go!

Kindergarten Graduation

Yesterday our little Boogie graduated from Kindergarten. It was so adorable watching all the kids process in with their little caps and gowns on. I am definitely one of those people that always thought "graduating" from preschool or Kinder was strange and unnecessary until it was my kid, now it's just fun and cute. :-P They sang us the Star Spangled Banner, and another special Kindergarten song to the tune of The Addams Family, before receiving their "diplomas". The teachers put together a slideshow with pics from throughout the year, and then we had cookies and lemonade. :)



With our little graduate

Gage keeps asking when he is going to Kindergarten... Never, buddy, never. Pretty sure you have to stay small for Mommy!

Addie and Miss Meyers

Next stop, 1st grade! *sniff*

Year 6 Begins

I am back from my blog-slacking ways to share some memories and pics from Addie's 6th birthday. I am having a hard time with this birthday (well, I kinda do with all the birthdays...). It just cannot be possible that our beautiful baby is not a baby, but a little girl! Before we get to the fun pics from the party, here are some things our now 6 year old is doing these days.

-Reading! She has been working hard learning all of her "phonograms" this year in Kinder and is becoming quite the little reader. Every night before bed, she reads us a story and then we read her one. I cannot wait until we can start reading some of my favorite childhood chapter books together. :)

 

-Addie took beginning gymnastics this spring and she is coming along. She almost has her cartwheel and handstand all figured out.

 

-Still loving Star Wars, and is really getting into superhero stuff now. At this moment she is playing with some Batman legos she got for her bday...

 

-Coming up with as many ways as possible to tell us how much she loves us. <3 "I love you more!" "I love you to all the furthest planets and stars and back!" "I love you all the way around the sun and the moon and all the planets and all the stars like 100 times and back!" I think sometimes she uses this as a way to stall us leaving her room before bed, but that's really ok with us. :)

 

-Being a little mother to Gage. Sometimes this is so endearing, like when he gets hurt and she gives him a little hug. Or when he goes potty and she gives him a sticker. And then sometimes I have to remind her that I am in fact the mom, like when she deems it necessary to point out that he is doing something wrong, or that he needs to finish his dinner, etc.

This year was our first real taste of having a birthday party with "friends". That is, school friends, and not just family and family friends. So we took the easy-on-us route and had the party at Pump It Up, where we basically just got to show up and have fun and they do all the work. Yes, please. I want to know where these indoor bouncy places were when I was a kid. I want to have  MY birthday there.

Did I fail to mention that this party was a superhero adventure?? Check out the sweet outfits. A lot of the kids dressed up and it was so awesome!

Superman undies on the outside? Yessss.

There was some obstacle course racing...

Some superhero challenges...

And some "big kid" fun too...

 

 



 

This is just me smoking Erica up the wall...

The little kids weren't so sure...

 



I cannot get over how terrified her face looks!



All the kids!

After playtime and all the Superhero training activities were finished, we went to the party room for some pizza, cake, ice cream, and presents!


The afore mentioned Batman Legos

The birthday queen surveying her minions...

Our sweet girl

We had her big party the weekend before her actual birthday, so we (of course) had a second cake and ice cream on the actual day. Because if you can't celebrate your birthday twice when you're 6, when can you??

Cheesin' it up

Trying out her new birthday skates from Mom and Dad

I think I am going to figure out a way to freeze time so I can keep my kids little for just awhile longer. Sigh. We are so proud of our little Boog. Happy Birthday, baby.

Dancing Lion

Our little Boog has been taking a dance class all year, and 2 weekends ago was her recital. It was so fun to watch how the class helped her grow over the year. The first few classes she wouldn't do her moves across the room without her teacher by her side, and by the end she was quite the little showgirl with her big smile on stage. We had a busy week getting ready for the shows with something dance-related nearly every night because of all the rehearsals and performances, but it was so worth it so see how proud she was to get dressed up in her costume and do the dance on the big stage. There were 8 little girls in her class, ages 4-5, and they all practiced their little hearts out. Oh man, there is nothing like 8 little girls dancing/forgetting their moves/telling each other where to go on stage. Classic. They danced to "I Just Can't Wait to Be King" from Disney's The Lion King. It was a proud mom (and dad) moment for sure.

In all her "lion" glory. She was quite the natural and just posed for pics without much direction from us. :)

This is what she calls her "lion face"; aren't you terrified?!

Here is the video from dress rehearsal night, which was the only night we were allowed to tape, boo. The girls were so on their game opening night, I wish I had that on video, sigh. Anyway, please enjoy the clip, it's quick! As they come on stage, Addie is the second lion!

Star Wars Birthday Party!

A long time ago, in a galaxy far away....

A girl of destiny was born. The Jedi Council named her Adelyn. She was the Chosen One. In the five years that have followed her birth, she has been learning the powers of the Force. Come celebrate our young padawan's 5th birthday with us!

At least, that's what the sign on our front door said on Sunday. We had a small family birthday party for Addie's 5th birthday at our house with a Star Wars theme, because, most 5 year old girls are into Jedi and lightsabers. The cool ones, anyway. :-)



Yoda brought his scotch, so he was ready to party...

There was some pizza eating, lightsaber sparring, cake and ice cream gobbling, and of course gift opening!



Who doesn't want a cake with Darth and Luke battling it out?

The birthday girl (with our version of Princess Leia hair) and Gage wearing their party shirts. Gage's has Chewbacca wearing sunglasses on it!

  

  

  

  



A little playtime with the new action figures from the top of the cake. She was ready to take them off to play as soon as she saw them!

   

Ain't that the truth?



Uncle Matt does it again! He always brings the "it" gift. Star Wars Operation in this case.

  



Another fave. R2D2 backpack. It's almost as big as she is, but so fun! She loved it so much, she took to carrying it around like...



a baby!



 And for the final gift of the day, a special scavenger hunt surprise from Mommy and Daddy...

Looking for a clue in the pantry...



There were 4 clues, each written in the "voice" of a Star Wars character- Yoda, Princess Leia, R2D2 & C3P0, and Darth Vader. Each clue was actually a puzzle piece; she is putting them together in the picture above. And once she had the puzzle all done, we flipped it over to reveal...



We're going to Disneyland!
We have been planning this trip for such a long time, it was so hard to keep it a secret from her! We will be at Disneyland on the date of her actual birthday and we have some fun stuff planned, so stay tuned!

Happy 5th Birthday to our little Boog! We love you so much!